


you don't have to be polite

by stillness_of_remembering



Series: constant star [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, IMO, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Sexual Harassment, Short, which should be a bigger deal in canon?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24203305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillness_of_remembering/pseuds/stillness_of_remembering
Summary: After a game, Yachi finds herself in an uncomfortable situation until Kiyoko comes to rescue her. Kiyoko tells Yachi some things she needs to know.
Relationships: Shimizu Kiyoko & Yachi Hitoka
Series: constant star [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854079
Comments: 7
Kudos: 34





	you don't have to be polite

Yachi sat at the end of a long bench, scribbling furiously in her notebook. The gym was empty after the long match, but Kiyoko had said it would be fine if she stayed and made some notes before catching up to the rest of the team. Yachi hadn’t expected to actually get this into the game and her role as manager, but seeing their players she was always amazed at the moves they could pull off. It was fascinating seeing them start learning a skill and improve to the point where it contributed to earning a point in a real match.

Hinata and Kageyama’s quick attack was really becoming more accurate. Not only that, but the other guys on the team were working with more synchronization than ever before. What had caused this change? Was it the practice methods? - she rapidly wrote all the ideas she had in the little book, so she wouldn’t forget them. Maybe they should do more combo practice with Kageyama and Tanaka? She tapped her pen against the page as she organized her thoughts, staring distractedly straight ahead. 

Someone sat down next to her. Yachi looked over discreetly. It was a stranger. He was a middle aged man, maybe 50s or 60s? He wasn’t in any uniform or tracksuit, so probably a spectator. He had gray hair and was a bit overweight, and had on average casual clothes: jeans, tennis shoes, a jacket. But why did he sit down right there? The rest of the bench was empty. And he sat a little too close to her too, but maybe he just didn’t realize it? She tried to scoot over sideways a little bit, but there really was no more room left to slide over on the bench. 

Yachi looked down and saw that their legs only had a few inches of space between them. She was suddenly very aware that she was wearing short shorts. She had chosen them because of the warm weather, but now she regretted it. She felt uncomfortable and kind of wanted to leave, but she also didn’t want to be completely rude. She shifted her gaze back down towards her notebook and started to write again, making her arm movements very small so they wouldn’t take up much space. 

Then he started to talk to her. “Hi, young lady! What are you writing about in there?” He sounded jovial, but his warm voice didn’t reassure Yachi. 

“Oh, just notes on, um, the game.” She stuttered, her voice softer than usual. There was a silence. Would it be weird to leave now? She closed her book to make it seem like she had coincidentally finished her current activity and was getting ready to leave, when he replied.

“The game was pretty good, but the other sights were even better.” At this, he looked straight at her and smiled. Was he talking about her? Yachi panicked inside. Would it be self-centered to think he was talking about her? What else would he be talking about? Maybe he meant something else she didn’t understand. She hoped she had misunderstood. She felt like he was being creepy, but maybe she was overreacting? He had been friendly to her so far. She didn’t want to make him feel bad if he really was just being weirdly nice to her. But she didn’t like this situation and she just wanted to be back with her team. 

“Um, yeah,” she awkwardly replied. At that moment, she saw Kiyoko hurrying towards her from across the gym. 

“Yachi, come on. The team’s leaving now.” Kiyoko seemed more urgent than usual, her face decisively pulled into a displeased expression. Yachi wondered why.

“Yes Kiyoko,” Yachi said, relieved. “Bye,” she muttered to the man. 

Kiyoko grabbed Yachi’s wrist and silently hurried her to an empty hallway before pulling the two of them to a halt.

“I thought we were leaving?” Yachi was confused. 

“What was going on back there? Why didn’t you leave?” Kiyoko had let go of Yachi’s wrist and immediately began questioning her.

“Should I have left? I didn’t want to be rude… He was sitting kind of close to me though. It didn’t.. feel comfortable,” Yachi explained, gesturing her hands.

“Yeah, he was definitely sitting too close to you. He was being creepy. You should’ve left.” Kiyoko seemed worried, Yachi thought. Or maybe annoyed.

“Yeah I thought it might’ve been creepy, but I wasn’t sure. He didn’t really say much.”

“Has anyone ever talked to you about this stuff? When guys are being.. creepy?”

“No, not really.” Yachi said, confused. Her mom didn’t have those sorts of conversations with her. Should she have?

“Then let me tell you this: if someone is being creepy to you, and you know what I mean right? Like that guy there? Even if it’s something that you don’t think would sound very bad laid out in words, if you can tell that a guy is being creepy, you don’t have to be polite. Just leave. It doesn’t matter if it feels rude.”

“Really? I don’t want to be mean…” Yachi trailed off. She wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

“Yes. Just walk away, if you can,” Kiyoko’s voice was firm, leaving no room for doubt. But Yachi’s attention was drawn the the last part of her sentence. 

“If you can? I might not be able to?” Her voice rose to a squeak. Of course, she knew rape happened, but she never thought it might happen to her. And she was physically small; that was just a fact. She thought of the man from before. Could she have fought him off if she’d needed to? She didn’t know.

“Yeah, it’s…. Nothing’s ever happened to me, you know. And most of the boys on the volleyball teams are pretty harmless, if you just tell them you have to go. But…” Kiyoko didn’t finish her sentence. They both knew what she was trying to say.  
“I would stay close to our team though, when possible.” Kiyoko finally said. “Just a few games ago, I was alone after a match and got cornered by some guys who wouldn’t let me leave until Hinata came and found me. I don’t think they would’ve done anything, but how do you ever know?” At this her voice was slightly more emotional. Yachi didn’t think it was anger - more like resignation.  
“That guy from before, he was just talking to you, but he was making you uncomfortable, and that’s not ok. Not to mention he was like old, and you’re 15. Again, not ok.” 

Yachi nodded, knowing the other girl was right. She knew that she usually was anxious, and blew things out of proportion, but she supposed this wasn’t a source of unease she could (or should?) reassure herself was irrational. 

“And what- what if something does happen?” 

“Come to me, tell me and we’ll figure out what to do. If you get attacked, if anyone does things to you, that’s never shameful for you, or your fault.” Kiyoko’s face softened as she looked at the pale girl in front of her. “But you’ll be fine. Just, don’t go off by yourself for the next few matches. Yeah?”

“I won’t.” Yachi said. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again. She would stick close to Kiyoko! Or the guys on the team! Another thought struck her though: what about the rest of her life? She would have to be alone sometime, at some point. The man she had encountered was making her uncomfortable, yeah, but she had easily gotten away from him just by getting up and walking away. Other people wouldn’t be like that. What then?

**Author's Note:**

> based vaguely off one of my experiences


End file.
